[dkaile]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

The Superb is probably the most VFM car in the market today, no doubt. But to say 10 lacs extra only for the LEDs and MMI is not justified. Have you spent time in the A4? Driving or being driven? Sure some switchgear is the same, but the overall interior quality and the feeling of solidness is a notch higher than the Skodas. Its all part of the feel good factor. If our main purpose was going from point a to point b, then you would probably have a Manza instead of a Superb.

Well, to compare a Manza to a Superb just seems too far fetched and I really cannot give a rational reply to that. But I have driven the A4 extensively as my friend owns one. And after sitting in my Superb's rear seat, he has mentioned more than once that he feels quite short changed with his A4. A4 is definitely a notch above in quality of some plastics and accessories but the overall build and space of the Superb too excels in many areas where the A4 lacks. As per my friend's feedback, it definitely does not deserve a 10 Lac Rs. premium that he has paid, according to him. And I was just airing his views.

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by dkaile

Well, to compare a Manza to a Superb just seems too far fetched and I really cannot give a rational reply to that. But I have driven the A4 extensively as my friend owns one. And after sitting in my Superb's rear seat, he has mentioned more than once that he feels quite short changed with his A4. A4 is definitely a notch above in quality of some plastics and accessories but the overall build and space of the Superb too excels in many areas where the A4 lacks. As per my friend's feedback, it definitely does not deserve a 10 Lac Rs. premium that he has paid, according to him. And I was just airing his views.

The price difference between a Manza and a Superb is about 10l.

Well if your friend was buying a car for the rear seat then no doubt he will feel shortchanged. The Superb has more legroom than a 5 series. If you go by the typical Indian mentality that for more money you should get more space then obviously the 10 lac premium is not justified.

Care to mention in what areas of build the Superb excels over the A4?

[Berj79]

Originally Posted by dkaile

Well, to compare a Manza to a Superb just seems too far fetched and I really cannot give a rational reply to that. But I have driven the A4 extensively as my friend owns one. And after sitting in my Superb's rear seat, he has mentioned more than once that he feels quite short changed with his A4. A4 is definitely a notch above in quality of some plastics and accessories but the overall build and space of the Superb too excels in many areas where the A4 lacks. As per my friend's feedback, it definitely does not deserve a 10 Lac Rs. premium that he has paid, according to him. And I was just airing his views.

Its each to their own really, if you want back space comfort the superb is nice but if you don't want that the A4 wins hands down, the A4 has mmi, amazing styling etc, Are the A4 headlights, bonnet, suspension, seats & everything else except the engine same as the superb? don't get me wrong i own a skoda laura tsi, its a great car but not the best car in the world lol..

[Hayek]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

Well if your friend was buying a car for the rear seat then no doubt he will feel shortchanged. The Superb has more legroom than a 5 series. If you go by the typical Indian mentality that for more money you should get more space then obviously the 10 lac premium is not justified.

Care to mention in what areas of build the Superb excels over the A4?

Difficult to talk on build quality but the Superb has a DSG against the CVT in the A4, the Superb has auto cornering lights (not clear if the A4 has them, the 3 series clearly does not), the Superb has memory seats for the driver which the A4 does not, and in my personal opinion, the interiors of the Superb are as good as those of the A4 (and far superior to the C or the 3 CE). 0-100 speeds for the Superb are similar to the A4. So it's not just rear seat room where the Superb scores. On most objective criteria, the Superb is a far better buy. Comparing it to the Manza is ridiculous, Tata does not deliver fit and finish, refinement et al like Skoda does (may be in 10 years if they focus on it). I drove my Superb back to back with a E 200 CGI, and did not find my car inferior on either power, refinement or interior quality - the only thing I missed was the auto hold feature that the E has.

The main reason for buying a Audi or a Merc is to tell the world you can afford one - else the Superb or the Passat deliver far better value. Won't talk about BMWs here as most people say they are much better to drive and I have not yet driven one.

[VW2010]

@Hayek.

Agreed to all points. The snub value of A4 over superb is higher. Does not mean A4 offers everything that the superb offers.

Superb is a ship while A4 is a car to me.

Look wise i will chose the A4 over the Superb but when we talk about Value for money i will pick a Superb. The car that changed my view on cars.

3 series is a drivers car only. All said and done the rear seat comfort on a 3 series is not really the same class as even the Jetta. The Jetta rear seat comfort is better.

Where the 3 series excel is its engine choice to chose from and the way it drives. The day when you drove a german car say a laura or a jetta and felt how different the car was cornering or planting while doing all sorts of angle and still leaving you with a smile, is exactly how you will feel when you drive a 3 series even coming from a Jetta or a Laura. The car is built to be driven and tested. Cant say the same with a 5 series as well. Its just that 3 series has a great suspension and body marriage that it delivers what we call a perfect drive.

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by Hayek

Difficult to talk on build quality but the Superb has a DSG against the CVT in the A4, the Superb has auto cornering lights (not clear if the A4 has them, the 3 series clearly does not), the Superb has memory seats for the driver which the A4 does not, and in my personal opinion, the interiors of the Superb are as good as those of the A4 (and far superior to the C or the 3 CE). 0-100 speeds for the Superb are similar to the A4. So it's not just rear seat room where the Superb scores. On most objective criteria, the Superb is a far better buy. Comparing it to the Manza is ridiculous, Tata does not deliver fit and finish, refinement et al like Skoda does (may be in 10 years if they focus on it). I drove my Superb back to back with a E 200 CGI, and did not find my car inferior on either power, refinement or interior quality - the only thing I missed was the auto hold feature that the E has.

The main reason for buying a Audi or a Merc is to tell the world you can afford one - else the Superb or the Passat deliver far better value. Won't talk about BMWs here as most people say they are much better to drive and I have not yet driven one.

If you see my earlier posts, I have expressed dissent at Audi for not giving a more powerful engine and an inferior gearbox. Well I didn't so much as compare it to the Manza as make a statement saying that if we bought cars only to get from point A to B dkaile would have a Manza instead of a Superb. The Manza too offers massive rear legroom and a good ride. There is also an approx 10l difference between the Manza and the Superb.

The same way you guys are crying foul about me comparing a Manza to a Superb, why are you comparing the A4 to the Superb? They are clearly for different markets. A person buying an A4 will not buy it for the rear seat legroom, or the value. Its for the Audi badge, the better build and refinement.

The A4 does have seats for the driver (missing on the lower end model I think) and cornering lights. Yes it is missing on the BMW, infact even on the 5 series. You should drive a BMW (try a 3) to know what people are rambling about.

Also I'm surprised that you didn't find the refinement and the ride of the E class better than your Superb.

Anyway to put an end to all these highly OT posts, let me say that the Superb is a very VFM car but that does not make all these other cars like the A4 obsolete, they are for different target customers.

[Berj79]

I am not trying to downgrade the superb here, its excellent value for money thats why i own a skoda, why are we going off topic here? This thread is about the new A4 & not skoda superb.

[suhaas307]

Note From Team-BHP Support-Team: Guys, let's stick to the topic and keep the Superb vs. A4 discussion for another thread. Thanks

[sidindica]

http://www.audi.in/etc/medialib/ngw/...ochure_pdf.pdf

This is the link to the A4 brochure. BUT...along with the A4, is audi also planning to launch the S4 with 333 bhp supercharged 3.0 V6?

[vb-saan]

With the arrival of new 3, I expect BMW to position them much ahead of the competition, but this A4 facelift (along with the Q3) will surely help Audi to consolidate the position gained over the Mercedes. Even this facelift exercise looks pretty similar to what Mercedes did with the C-class. Even with the said shortcoming of CVT and 140ps TDI engine, I guess it’s really comparable with what the Merc is offering right now.

Looking at the prices of the A4 and C, the Volvo S60 D3 looks like superb VFM (except for the negative brand presence).

Question: For the 1.8 TFSI, Audi recommends Ron 95 fuel. Is this the standard unleaded petrol available in India?

[lancer_rit]

The new A4 looks great - a good evolution from the previous good looking version!
Engine and specs wise, I think Audi is really overpricing and under-specifying their cars. 1.8T with a CVT will be whipped by a Laura or Superb with MT (or even DSG). Do note that the increased power requires 95RON, and if filling 91RON, I suspect power and torque would be closer to the old tune (maybe a bit higher). Even the diesel is not a match for the 320D
Also, if you look at the A4 brochure, the features they list out seem quite ordinary and anything from Laura L&K, Superb Elegance, Passat HL whips it comfortably. Maybe, its just an issue with the brochure but I was quite underwhelmed.

@vb-san, India has 91RON not 95RON petrol. The same specs have an asterisk which says you can fill 91-RON unleaded sulfur-free, but power would be 'slightly' reduced.

[entropy]

This updated model looks really tempting. I just had hoped if 3.0TDI would become a CKD and more readily available. Now I'm quite confused between upcoming 320d, Q3 and this one.

I tried looking for but couldn't find GC mentioned anywhere ? How is the GC for this A4 and can it cope with the rough roads and huge humps (esp those on railway crossings). Thanks

[BikerSG]

Originally Posted by entropy

This updated model looks really tempting. I just had hoped if 3.0TDI would become a CKD and more readily available. Now I'm quite confused between upcoming 320d, Q3 and this one.

I tried looking for but couldn't find GC mentioned anywhere ? How is the GC for this A4 and can it cope with the rough roads and huge humps (esp those on railway crossings). Thanks

according to the guys at audi chennai, the 3.0TDi should be deadly available from july/august onwards. it should be available off the shelf, unlike earlier when it was purely on order only.

[PlatzdaTurbo]

A few points -

(1) I couldnt be any happier than i have the pre-facelift version of the A4. This does not look bad in anyway but now its incorporated the new family look and for people unfamiliar with Audis, telling it apart from an A6 will be difficult. To add to the problem , most A4/A6s are white. From that point of view i love the looks of the pre-facelift version and also prefer the DRL pearls to the cohesive line.

(2) Audi not offering the 170bhp tune 2.0 TDi is preposterous and makes no sense whatsoever no matter which way you look at it. There is NO WAY they are placing it below the Q3 in terms of hierarchy and so if a q3 gets 170bhp , the A4 should have followed suit. Stupid move. Senseless IMO. The power deficit between the 2.0 TDI and the 3.0 TDi is way too much.

(3) I frankly do not understand such statments - A4 3.0 TDi makes no sense, one could get base a6, 5 series at the price.
Let me clarify first that YES IT IS PRICED STEEP THERE IS NO DOUBT.
But here is the thing , a potential a4 3.0 tdi or 330d customer's list of prorities have absolutely NOTHING in common with the list of priorities that a prospective a6 / 520d customers has.
Why is the A4 3.0 TDi not seen around or not sold as a CKD ??? Simply because its not supposed to be a volume generator ! I am not defending my car but only slightly mental people with a totally different mind-set and a list of wants from their car buy cars like the A4 3.0 TDi.
Just for the record, we were in the market for the 530d f10 and on the day of the launch of the new 5, i came across this A4 3.0 TDi and ditched the 5er thanks to the sheer exclusivity of this car. Even today i get shocked looks from strangers when they see just an A4 fly past their bigger ,more comfy e/a6/5 etc. Point is , from day 1 i was sure that nothing in the world would make me consider A6 2.0/2.7 or 520/25d. The previous gen a6 3.0 tdi was discontinued by then so our eyes were set on the 530d until this baby came along.

An A4 3.0TDi does 0-62mph in 6.1 seconds and if driven sedately ,yeilds a combined average of 10.5-11 kmpl. All this with 500NM always on the tap with no let up in power, features at par with a class above (more or less) and superior interior packaging compared to the A4 1.8/2/ lower 3 series or C class variants. Throw her into corners and she reacts eagerly and yeilds a silly grin on your face. Thanks to AWD you would have to be an absolute idiot to manage to kill yourself.
How can anyone imagine a base A6 / 5 series customer doing the same thing ? He might enjoy the odd drive but he would much rather enjoy the superior legspace thanks to the longer wheelbase (read - longer wheelbase , inferior handling, enhanced body roll) & the lounge like feel that his car exudes .
Long & short of it -
520d owner - huge snob value but practicality retained. A to B in comfort and reasonable power.
A4 3.0 TDi - Dont care about the price as long as i get the bloody thrills and have 'the happy look' when i reach from A to B. If i get practicality out of it , even better !

More often than not , the prospective owners of either of the above discussed cars would not settle for the other. (unless they have the money for both. LOL )

What i mentioned above is general perception, no hard n fast rule.

[shankar.balan]

These last 2 weeks I have been driving these A4's in Australia. One was the normal 1.8 TSI sedan and the second is a station wagon in the top trim with dual zone climate control and all the fiddles. Excellent car. I really like it a lot. However while it is a perfectly normal sized car abroad, it is quite long for India's narrow roads. A very good vehicle and I am getting surer that my next upgrade ought to be a Q3 type thing. I really enjoy these Euro cars and this holiday car rental confirms the fact.
Cheers.